Not Applicable
Not Applicable
(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of doing business using credit and/or debit cards to comply with local laws, regulations or customs, e.g., below cost sales legislation.
(2) Description of Related Art
Consumers use a lot of credit and debit cards. Representative credit and debit card patents are reviewed below, followed by a review of some problems which are encountered in transactions involving discounts or promotional credits in goods or services which are subject to laws, regulation or local custom.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,578,808 discloses a data card that can be used for transaction involving separate card issuers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,246 discloses a smartcard that allows different Service Providers to coexist on the smartcard with none of the Service Providers, nor the owner of the smartcard, having access to the files created for, or by, each of the resident Service Providers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,231,569 discloses a system for performing transactions from a checking account which adds a measure of assurance of payment to the account issuer. The system includes a remote transaction terminal, at the point of sale, which reads data on a card which identifies the card holder. The amount and type of the transaction are inputted into the transaction terminal. A transaction processor is provided which accesses two negative data files. One of the negative data files is compiled by the account issuer and the other of the negative data files is compiled by a number of account issuers such as by a number of different merchants. The data identifying the card holder is compared to the data in both of the negative files and an authorization or denial signal is generated in response to the comparison.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,340,969 to Cox discloses a method and apparatus for approving transaction card based transactions.
U.S.Pat. No. 5,270,943 to Warn discloses a fuel pump control card. U.S. Pat. No. 3,774,656 to Mayer discloses an automatic fuel dispensing nozzle.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,642,036 Ginsburgh et al. and several related patents, U.S. Pat. No. 3,580,414 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,536,109 discloses automatic dispensing of motor fuel.
The patent literature, and the consumer""s world, are replete with art on, and invitations to use, credit, debit and pre-paid credit cards, which may hereafter be referred to as xe2x80x9cplasticxe2x80x9d. Some issuers of plastic, in an attempt to secure greater market share, add discounts, promotional awards or bonus amounts for some or all purchases. Some credit cards feature a 5% credit towards purchase of a car, with an additional 5% credit for transactions such as purchase of a selected brand of gasoline. Some credit cards give cash back at the end of the year. Some card providers give discounts towards the purchase of other goods or services.
The proliferation of plastic has also been an enabler of e-commerce, permitting efficient purchases by consumers of goods over the Internet. Reverse auctions have been used in Internet transactions to permit consumers to name their own price for hotel rooms, airline tickets and even gasoline and pay for these items with plastic and use then some form of plastic to acquire some of the goods, e.g., gasoline.
Some vendors are concerned that discounted or promotional purchases of some goods, e.g., gasoline, can violate below cost selling rules that exist in some locales. Such laws are in effect in many states regards gasoline. Other goods subject to minimum price rules, in different locales, include milk, beer and wine, furniture and potentially even services, such as notarization in a state with a notary fee set by state law or sale of publications by a governmental body at a price set by statute.
None of the existing methods of handling debit and credit card transactions have adequately dealt with the problem of complying with these local regulations which impact the price of only some transactions and/or only those transactions which occur in some areas. Attempts to create an effective, nation-wide program involving discounts or rebates are frustrated if in some states the program can not legally be used, e.g., discount gasoline purchases may be legal in New York but illegal in New Jersey:
An obvious xe2x80x9csolutionxe2x80x9d is to post notices at all the pumps in gas stations in New Jersey advising motorists that a certain promotion can not be used, but this introduces a significant complication for station owners in the affected state who must deal with disgruntled customers and for customers. In some cases, the disruption for customers can be significant, as where a customer was relying on a pre-paid gasoline card for a long trip.
We developed a way for credit and debit card purchases of goods or services impacted by regulations to proceed automatically, and, in some instances, invisibly, to both the vendor and the consumer at the point of sale.
Our approach solved the problem with a database of locations/transactions which were impacted by local rules or regulations. Another important element was maintaining, or updating in real time, a database of informed, consenting consumers, who had been advised, either generically or specifically, of the existence of restrictions. Most importantly, the consumers were given options, which may include consent to some alternate means of proceeding with the transaction which did not run afoul of the local rule or regulation.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a method of doing business related to the purchase or lease of goods or services impacted by laws, regulation or custom (Impacted Transaction) with a credit, debit or prepaid card and fulfilling the transaction in real time at the point of sale (POS) and the time of sale (TOS) comprising:
(a) storing, in a memory location of a computer, at least one flag code associated with at least one member of the group of a locator code associated with locations having laws, regulations or customs which affect transactions of some goods or services within a geographic area and a transaction code associated with goods or services impacted by said laws, regulations or customs in some geographical areas;
(b) confirming, at the POS or in a remote location, and at the TOS if a transaction has a flag associated therewith;
(c) collecting, prior to or at the TOS, information from a consumer about preferences for dealing with Impacted Transactions,
(d) cross-referencing, at the TOS and at the POS or in one or more remote computing locations operatively connected with a POS transaction means, said flagged transactions with said consumer choices and adjusting the price, payment method or some other term of the impacted transaction as needed to comply with said law, regulation or custom and fulfill the transaction in accordance with said consumer preferences.
In another embodiment, the present invention provides a method of providing a discounted, pre-paid gasoline card, or a credit card having associated therewith a promotional feature, discounts or promotions for gasoline which may not be permissible in a geographic area due to a local rule, regulation or custom, and fulfilling the transaction in real time at the point of sale (POS) and the time of sale (TOS) comprising:
(a) storing, in a memory location of a computer, at least one flag code associated with at least one member of the group of a locator code associated with locations having laws, regulations or customs which affect gasoline transactions within a geographic area and a transaction code associated with gasoline sales impacted by said laws, regulations or customs in some geographical areas;
(b) confirming, at the POS or in a remote location, and at the TOS if a transaction has a flag associated therewith;
(c) collecting, prior to or at the TOS, information from a consumer about preferences for dealing with impacted gasoline sales.
(d) cross-referencing, at the TOS and at the POS or in one or more remote computing locations operatively connected with a POS transaction means, said flagged transactions with said consumer choices and adjusting the price, payment method or some other term of the impacted transaction as needed to comply with said law, regulation or custom and fulfill the transaction in accordance with said consumer preferences.